Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Moving like a hot knife through town business

CORNWALL — A combined town meeting and public hearing on Zoom about the 2021-22 proposed town budgets attracted nearly 40 residents on Friday, April 23.

First Selectman Gordon Ridgway observed that Friday’s event was the first Cornwall town meeting ever held on Zoom, and he commented that the past year has been challenging. 

Lisa Lansing Simont was elected unanimously to serve as moderator for the town meeting. All five items up for consideration received unanimous votes in favor.

Ridgway reviewed highlights of the 2020 annual report for the year that ended June 30, 2020. Acceptance of that report was late, because of  delays caused by the pandemic, but the report earned praise from Ridgway for its thoroughness and aesthetic appeal, thanks to the editorial work of Barbara Herbst and the photographs supplied largely by Laszlo Gyorsok.

The five-year capital plan was detailed by Board of Finance Chairman Joseph Pryor, who indicated that $40,000 has been set aside annually to fund the replacement of an aging town plow truck. Town building maintenance and roof replacement are anticipated in the coming months.

Ridgway commented that the future will bring improvements to Town Hall, which is “our next big building project after we do the transfer station.”

A real estate revaluation is scheduled for this summer by the assessor. Ridgway said he expects this will bring an increase in the total value of the Grand List of taxable property. 

Parking area approved for Betts

Voters approved of the sale to William Betts of the small parcel of land that used to be the location of the West Cornwall Fire House, adjacent to the former Farnsworth Bookstore. Before it was a bookstore, the building housed a Masonic Hall. The tiny piece of land, measuring two-tenths of an acre, will be sold to Betts for $500, and will give him space to accommodate parking for one or two vehicles next to the Farnsworth building, which he recently purchased.

“We would like to see that property come back to life,” Ridgway said, crediting Betts with dubbing the location “the east side of West Cornwall.”  

With roots in Cornwall, Betts said that he moved back to town in late autumn, and he is excited to be part of the revitalization of that area of the town.

A challenge at the Farnsworth property is the absence of a water source and septic provisions; and until the town meeting vote, there was no parking. Betts observed that the small parking area will also give him space to bring in a dumpster, so he can begin the process of cleaning out the building.

Because the balance in the town’s Sidney Kaye Fund has been spent down to $18,900, residents voted to amend a 1981 ordinance to allow that fund to be merged with the town’s endowment fund, adding Kaye Fund to the list of funds in the endowment. Over the years, many worthwhile projects have benefited from the Kaye Fund.

And then the budget hearing

The Board of Finance public hearing on the proposed town budgets for 2021-22 began with a review of both budget proposals, but drew only questions of clarification from residents, rather than calls for change.

Pryor said that the town is in a positive situation financially, thanks in part to the growth in the Grand List during the past year.

The budgets as proposed will result in holding the mill rate steady for the coming year at 16.70, Pryor said. He reminded everyone that the mill rate will not be set until after the town meeting vote approves the proposed budgets.

That town meeting will be held on Friday, May 21.

The selectmen’s proposed budget for the town totals $2,919,986, up 5.47%, or $151,457. 

The town’s school budget totals $4,017,965, including $1,484,561 for the Region One assessment. That total represents an increase of 4.27%, or $298,849.

Copies of the proposed 2021-22 budgets can be viewed in detail, along with supporting documents, on the town website at www.cornwallct.org.

Latest News

Sharon voters split opioid settlement funds between ambulance, regional programs

Sharon voters approved splitting $24,000 in opioid settlement funds at an Aug. 27 town meeting.

Alec Linden

SHARON — Sharon voters unanimously approved splitting $24,000 in opioid settlement funds between the town’s ambulance service and a regional fund supporting addiction prevention, harm reduction and mental health services.

The decision Thursday, Aug. 27, came two months after voters rejected an earlier Board of Finance-backed proposal, 27-11, at a June 18 town meeting. Residents had expressed concern about directing all the money, which must be used for opioid remediation, to a regional organization rather than supporting the town’s emergency medical service.

Keep ReadingShow less
At Peggy Mercury, prep meets punk in ‘Imaginary Concerts’
Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
Provided

Last month, James Boehmer and Greg Fricke of Peggy Mercury launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” wearable art sold exclusively at their store in the Kent Barns section of Kent, Connecticut.

The two fashion industry veterans opened Peggy Mercury more than two years ago, and a quick visit will tell you that people are finding what they’re looking for at the beauty and lifestyle store. But what they’re looking for is never standard.

Keep ReadingShow less

“Girlbomb” at 20

“Girlbomb” at 20
Photo by Jessica YurkoMillerton author Janice Erlbaum will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her memoir “Girlbomb” at Black Rabbit Dispensary on Sept. 5.
Photo by Jessica YurkoMillerton author Janice Erlbaum will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her memoir “Girlbomb” at Black Rabbit Dispensary on Sept. 5.
With memoir...the character only knows what the character knows.
Janice Erlbaum

In “Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir,” published in 2006, author Janice Erlbaum wrote about the years after she left her family’s Brooklyn apartment at 15, moving through shelters, group homes, squats, clubs and the streets of 1980s New York while somehow continuing to attend high school. The book has sold more than 75,000 copies, stayed in print for two decades and continues to find new readers.

Now Erlbaum, 57, lives in Millerton and on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 7:30 p.m., she will celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Girlbomb” with a reading at Black Rabbit Dispensary. The event is open to the public and will be livestreamed on Instagram.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Spencertown’s 21st Festival Of Books
Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, author of “Daylight Come: Harry Belafonte and the World He Made” is one of thefeatured authors at the Spencertown Academy Festival of Books on Saturday, Sept. 5.
Mirissa Neff

On Saturday, Sept. 5, the Spencertown Academy Arts Center in Spencertown, New York, will host its 21st annual Book Festival.

With over 20,000 gently used books, CDs, DVDs and vinyl donated by the community, it took volunteers 45 days — and an estimated 750 hours —to set the whole thing up. Most of that time was spent sorting through the vast troves of donations and organizing them by category.

Keep ReadingShow less
Paul Newman racing doc to screen in North Canaan on Sunday
“Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman,”will be screened Sunday, Sept. 6, at the Colonial Theatre in North Canaan.
Provided

On Sunday, Sept. 6, Lime Rock Park will host a screening of the documentary “Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman” at the Colonial Theatre in North Canaan at 7 p.m.

Newman was one of the most celebrated actors of the 20th century, known for films including “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Hud” and “Cool Hand Luke.” His 1969 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” also began a decades-long friendship with co-star Robert Redford.

Keep ReadingShow less
Community to take center stage at Dive Barn

A scene from last year’s Dance Barn.

Steven Tayler

On Sunday, Sept. 6, PS21 in Chatham, New York, will host a celebration of community through dance at its second annual Dive Barn performance at the organization’s Dance Barn.

Dive Barn is the brainchild of dancer, teacher and choreographer Sayer Mansfield, who has dedicated her life to contemporary and experimental dance. She studied in the Department of Dance at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. She’s performed with companies including Pilobolus, Compagnie Marie Chouinardand Mark Morris Dance Group. Her work has been featured in films including “Little Women,” “Maestro” and “Sproutland.” She has served on the faculties of Jacob’s Pillow, Phillips Academy Andover, as well as Harvard and Yale Universities.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.